Want to improve quicker?

[h.harb]

I have always stated that skiing and racing is being taught incorrectly. I have many examples to prove this statement.

[dive]

Traversing means moving to intermediate skiers, and that’s when they freeze up.

I have had the pleasure of attending the Solvista camp the other week. Harald has been our coach for three days as well. While I don't remember the drills he describes here so it must have been the other group, I can vouch for the freezing Harald describes. As a firsttimer to the camp I felt like I could counterbalance passably when standing still. Doing it moving was completely different. Once moving the video showed I did not have a lot of counterbalance. The balance with the skis gripping in the carve was very different from the feeling of counterbalancing when standing still. It felt like going over the handlebars and all to often I let my skis slip out of the turn. Of course I know I should be tipping and counterbalancing more but knowing is not the same as doing. I have to remember the dril of doing it slowely the next time I ski. It seems like a good approach to get used to the feeling. The week was wonderful. My skiing has improved and I am sure I have a lot more to learn. Thanks again for a great week.

Greetings, Dick from the Netherlands.

[Hamy]

I was teaching in Blackcomb this week and could not get my student to counteract her hips correctly. She kept leading the conteraction with her shoulders leaving her hips behind. At the bottom of Blackcomb there is a restaurant with large window and they have reflective coating on them and are like big mirrors. I had her stand in front of the window with one shoulder facing the window and her feet and head facing 90 degrees away from the window. Her feet where matched together and I had her tip her feet away from the window and then conteract with her hips. She kept leading with her shoulders and twisting the upper body. Finally I had her put her poles down and put her hands on her hips and then do the movement. She then got it. After several stationary counteractive movements when she could see herself she had it. For the upper body to be stable the counteracting must begin in the hips and lower back. She is a physio therapist and said she should have know that because when she has an immobile patient on a bed, to roll the patient over she must roll them by the hips. Rolling them over by the shoulders just twists their body, but if she rolls them by the hips the rest of the upper body follows. After that her skiing improved and she started carving and showing me a straight zipper on her jacket. We just need a large mirror on every run. When the counter action is lead by the shoulders for some reason the inside shoulder seems to go up but the inside hand goes down. When starting the counteraction with the hip, the inside hand stays high and strong.

[uavmx]

so in regards to the telluride video...what "level" would those skiers be labeled as in traditional standars? intermediate? They seem to lake a sort of agressiveness

[akaflash]

Thanks for all the great info... Love PMTS teaching style.
(there's a lot to learn - always)
As a PSIA instructor (alright, I am not pointing fingers or anything) I will say that the 100+ instructors I have gotten to know pretty closely all have couple of things in common:
1. They want to teach something
2. Rarely watch students before starting a lesson plan
3. Rarely ask a student their actual skiing goals
But aside from the top 3 gathered above, and as pointed out at the beginning of this post: Students MUST fully understand what the instructor is talking about. For this to happen, concise and precise movements will help.
Feelings (and even sensational ones) seems to be a "non-sense" approach.

So back to square one: I like how it was emphasized that students must understand / instructors must make a lesson plan clear.
Again, thank you for your patience with us PSIA instructors.